The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-03-18

real.
Mrs. de Sille was alone for a mo-
ment anG rejoined her.
Speaking of Empire dresses, who is
the lady yonder who wears, if know
enough Of a subject l do not pretend
to master, q complete Empire dress,
and looks as il her hairdresser had
had the wit to copy an old print in
order to carry the fancy out?"
Mrs. de Sille did not look; she smll-
ed good humOredly.
you elderly men," here she gave
mo a wicked glance "are too amusing
when you think you know something
about women's dressI You are much
nicer when young, for you do not pre-
tend to know. Not one Of my guests
wears an Empire dress tonight,
though some have them at home"
And she laughed a laugh from which
widOwhoOd and the loss of more than
one lovely child had not rubbed the
silver.
30, very WELL" said l. "Perhaps
yon will condescend from your Olym-
pus OF millinery and tell what the
dress is that the lady up there has on.
She seems to have carried the dearth
Of conversation SO far that nobody
will talk to her"
Mrs. de Sille, put up her tortoise
shell glasses with a pretty wrinkllng
smile, fixed the figure for q moment,
put them down, and looked rather
blank.
"Positively, I DO not know. She
has not said good-evening to me, that
l can swear-or she has changed her
dress since
cts rather queer, too," said I,
that sc pretty a woman, as far as a
figure goes, for l cannot make L the
face, should have escaped me. AS we
get on in life we grow horribly fastidi-
Gus and know all the finest women by
sight, even to the backs other heads.
Who can it be-"
The hostess beckoned to Tommy
Moore and asked him, but that beat
ihC youth averred that he didn't
know her from Eve. Reproving him
with a glance, Mrs. de Sille returned
to the charge.
"Take me round the room, and by
the time we get to the big Bouguereau
| wager you a theatre party l know
who she is"
So we set out on a somewhat peril
Gus threading of the ballroom, stop
ping every moment to speak to some
one. The lady at the balustrade had
not moved but seemed to dreamily,
placidly survey the moving floor from
under her fan. Here was the Bougue-
reau, and now her features could be
indistinctly made out. We stopped,
and Mrs. de Sille began to bite her
lips.
What impertinenceI Is it posi-.
bic? haven't an idea who she is, and
/ know as certainly as / stand here
that she was not asked. Could it, o,
could it be one of those awful females
who report for the press?"
"She doesn't look like the breed"
/ said. "And if she's taking notes
they are mental"
"Go, dear good friend, do go and
talk to her; find out who, what she
isl l will not permit such things to
happen in my house! The indecent
creature! Col"
1t was not for me to hesitate, seeing
that the aspect was most inviting and
| was corroded with curiosity. TAX
ing a glass of punch from the table be-
tween the broad flights OF stairs that
swept up to the gallery, l presented
myself to the lady in the Empire
dress with my best bow. She did not
look at me, but waved it aside with
thefaintest, prettiest, haughtiest move
! sson1 "a nor nead. Even then / could
not see her face; indeed from the floor
it was more distinct than near at hand,
whether because the palm branches
threw q heavy shadow, or that her
fan managed to intercept the view
just when ] expected to see her feat
ures.
drew up an easy chair and seated
myself so that | could see the floor
and yet talk if she chose to begin.
Somehow the fan told me she knew I
had come to stay. Certainly she had
the prettiest figure in the world, and
her milliner had intended that same
world to know it. The dark blue
silk modelled itself like wet linen to
surfaces that suggessed plumpness,
but were never full. The Eaiddle figure,
where women are straight or marked
with artificial curves, was charged with
delicate lines that gave a little to her
breathing; and the lower neck. pushed
high by a band of yet darker blue silk
of q rough texture, seemed hardly ON
fined by the robe. The latter, though
split pretty far down the centre, COW
cred the shoulders half to the neck,
leaving q dazzling wedge of bosom.
From the short, narrow skirt jutted
embroidered stockings very Morally
displayed, tiny feet and slippers OF
silk with prodigiously high heels.